Sarasota's Berlin family buys Ridge Gardens apartments

BUYER: Berlin Properties II LLC (principals: Evan and Stephen Berlin)(1/3 interest) and Gracen Associates LLC (principals: Jeffrey and Janice Berlin) (2/3), Sarasota
SELLER: Signal Ridge LLC
PROPERTY: 3001 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota
PRICE: $1.95 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.45 million, June 1999
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Berlin family purchased the 48-unit Ridge Gardens Apartment Homes for $1.95 million.

The price equated to $40,521 per unit.

The Bee Ridge property features 42 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units. The 48-year-old apartment complex also includes laundry facilities and a pool.

Nick DeVito, Jag Grewal and Michele Fuller of Ian Black Real Estate handled the transaction.

Grewal says the higher-than-usual per-unit price was driven both by the location and unit type.

“One-bedroom units are easily rented and in very high demand,” he says. It was one of the former motels on Bee Ridge that was converted to apartments. The occupancy was around 95%.”

The purchase price equated to a pay off ratio based on income (capitalization rate) of 9%.

“We really like apartment complexes now,” says Evan Berlin, a founding partners and shareholder of Berlin-Patten PLLC. “That price point, from $600 to $700 a month, is really an underserved part of the market right now. The vacancy rate is basically zero. We're looking at other apartment opportunities right now. We own a mobile home park in Sarasota a mile away, but this is our first venture into the residential rental market.”